Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem [Hardcover]

Mac Barnett (Author), Adam Rex (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 23, 2009 | Age Level: 3 and up

A blue whale is longer than thirty dogs lined up nose to tail. Its tongue weighs as much as four hundred cats. Blue whales make terrible pets....Just ask Billy Twitters.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 4—Billy Twitters's parents don't mess around when doling out punishments. When the boy fails to clean his room, brush his teeth, and finish his baked peas, they buy him a blue whale. It arrives via FedUp (motto: "Delivering Punishment Worldwide"), and it's up to Billy to take care of it. Rex's goofy illustrations blend the realistic with the fantastic, as in a giant wordless spread of Billy pedaling furiously on his bike, towing the whale behind on a skateboard as the beast's bulk takes out telephone poles and traffic lights. At school, things don't improve; a teacher gives a whale lecture instead of showing a promised cowboy movie, and Billy is uninvited from a pool party when the hostess learns he would have to bring the cetacean. And he soon finds that gathering thousands of krill for its dinner is tough work. At last, after cleaning out the whale's stinky mouth, Billy decides that it's a pretty peaceful place, and he decides to move in. That's a strange ending for an odd story, but young readers will likely enjoy the ridiculous premise, and the many whale facts worked seamlessly into the tale.—Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD
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Review

Readers know what kind of place they are in when the endpapers include ads for giant-squid repellent and shrimp-of-the-month club and the author and illustrator snark at each other in the dedication. Billy Twitters's room looks much as one might expect: unmade bed, piles of dirty and clean clothes, video games, books, backpack and stuffed toys everywhere. Billy's mom tells him plainly that he's to clean up his room and finish his dinner or "we're buying you a blue whale." He doesn't, and they do. While Rex never reveals the faces of the adults, he does provide nicely detailed diagrams of the size and habits of the blue whale (from FedUp, "Delivering Punishment Worldwide"). Billy has to take his whale everywhere, even though the whale kind of wrecks the classroom and moves Alexis to un-invite Billy and the whale to her pool party. However, the prospect of feeding his whale inspires Billy to a damp and fishy but very boylike solution to the problem of both room-cleaning and whale-sitting. Definitely funny and slyly subversive. --Kirkus (star)

A headlong plunge into surrealism ensues when Billy Twitters's parents punish him by giving him a blue whale. The cleverness is in the idea's literal-mindedness -- Billy thinking "I feel like something's watching me" as he eats his cereal, one very large eye visible behind him, and then hauling the whale to school on his bicycle. It's not supposed to make sense, and, amusingly, it doesn't. --New York Times

Billy Twitters's parents don't mess around when doling out punishments. When the boy fails to clean his room, brush his teeth, and finish his baked peas, they buy him a blue whale. It arrives via FedUp (motto: "Delivering Punishment Worldwide"), and it's up to Billy to take care of it. Rex's goofy illustrations blend the realistic with the fantastic, as in a giant wordless spread of Billy pedaling furiously on his bike, towing the whale behind on a skateboard as the beast's bulk takes out telephone poles and traffic lights. At school, things don't improve; a teacher gives a whale lecture instead of showing a promised cowboy movie, and Billy is uninvited from a pool party when the hostess learns he would have to bring the cetacean. And he soon finds that gathering thousands of krill for its dinner is tough work. At last, after cleaning out the whale's stinky mouth, Billy decides that it's a pretty peaceful place, and he decides to move in. That's a strange ending for an odd story, but young readers will likely enjoy the ridiculous premise, and the many whale facts worked seamlessly into the tale.

-Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD --School Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (June 23, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786849584
• ISBN-13: 978-0786849581
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 10.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #218,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT Book and SO Original!!, July 4, 2009

By 

B & V Franklin (El Segundo, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem (Hardcover)

I just bought this book for our 7 year old son and not only does he love it, but so does his 4 year old sister! Since we got it, she's been asking me to read it to her every night at bedtime! What an original story and the illustrations are fantastic! The story is something that the kids find amusing but, at the same time, it's educational. Even I learned some new things about blue whales!! Bottom line...this book has something for everyone of all ages. I highly recommend it!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is GREAT!, August 15, 2009

By 

Auntie Nantucket (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem (Hardcover)

What if Mom and Dad taught you responsibility by giving you a pet-- Whale!?
This book is GREAT! It takes exaggeration literally, and goes big, stretching reality in a way that reminds me of Roald Dahl. The book nudges the Clifford the Big Red Dog, and Danny and the Dinosaur genre, and says, really? Doesn't a pet that big smell pretty foul? And isn't it pretty inconvenient feeding your pet, say, 10,000 gallons of sea water daily? I laugh aloud every time I read it. The illustrations are vast, vivid, and just as clever as the text.
Don't miss the special offer under the dust jacket!
"Send us a self-addressed, stamped envelope (we call it a S.A.S.E.!) and we'll send you a blue whale.
What?!
My S.A.S.E. is in the mail!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So Much Fun!, August 21, 2009

By 

J. Korn - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem (Hardcover)

This book will have readers of all ages laughing hysterically at Billy Twitters' predicament. Younger kids will love the silly illustrations and the wonderful details of childhood, while their parents will also appreciate the book's sly sense of humor. Don't forget to order your own Blue Whale - just check inside the dust jacket.